During the week covered by this review, we received 4 articles on the following subjects:
Jerusalem
Christians in Israel
Christian Zionism
Jerusalem
Yedioth Ahronoth, June 16, 2019; BeSheva, June 13, 2019
These articles recounted the controversy over the sale of assets belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church to right-wing settler organization, “Ateret Cohanim”. Church leaders denounced a decision made by the Supreme Court to allow for the sale, claiming that the original deal was corrupt, and expressing concern that the new owners would attempt to evict Palestinian residents, as well as obstruct Christian access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The second piece was an opinion piece, in which it was argued that the heads of the Church were being anti-Semitic in their opposition to the sale of assets to Jews. The author argued that, “those hypocrites know very well that only in Israel they can live like human beings”, in reference to the rights Christians enjoy in Israel relative to other Middle Eastern countries. For this reason, he suggested, it was wrong of them to oppose the sale.
Christians in Israel
Haaretz, June 20, 2019
Nigerian pastor and televangelist, T. B. Joshua, who boasts 1.5 million followers on YouTube and 3.5 million followers on Facebook, and who is known for performing exorcisms, is scheduled to visit Nazareth and host an event there. However, many in Nazareth, including both Christian and Muslim leaders, were opposed to Joshua’s visit, saying it was “an affront to the principles of Christianity” and to their “national identity”. Some expressed concern that Joshua is a false prophet, who has been banned from other countries due to criminal suspicions and ties to the far right. Joshua, it was said, has grown wealthy in dubious ways. Only the Catholic Church has abstained from taking action, as Father Emil Shopany did not see any reason not to host the visit. He therefore said he would support the mayor’s original decision to welcome Joshua. Fifteen thousand people are expected to attend the event.
Christian Zionism
Shavua Israeli, June 5, 2019
This Hebrew translation of an article published in The Jerusalem Post about pastor and Christians United for Israel founder, John Hagee, was originally published in English on May 24, 2019. We covered it in the June 4, 2019 Media Review, which is available here.